Fire and Ice
by MythicalEntity
Summary: Emma Waylon: a Brooklyn teenager with a broken life. The day Tony Stark showed up her life changed drastically. how will Emma and Adrian cope with this shocking news? disclaimer: the story takes a while to pick up. please bear with, as it is an amazing tale to tell! a Stark's daughter Fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1: Bored

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff, I only play with the characters.**

Emma tried to concentrate in class, she really did. It's just that the teachers were so **boring**! And the subject was boring, and the class, and the whole school. Just the word 'school' bored her. And this class, Math, especially bored her. Does this teacher really think that 10th-grade students care about algebra? Heck with algebra!

She glanced at the clock and sighed. Forty-five minutes. Forty-five whole flipping minutes of this guy talking about who knows what! Honestly, she hadn't been paying attention to any of it. She glanced down at her doodle filled scratch paper and the broken pencil. 'Great' she thought miserably 'I can't even doodle to keep my mind off this mathematical crap'.

Emma had always sucked at math. She was awful at math, science, geography… almost everything except art and language arts. She had been convinced by her friend, Hazel, to come to a charter school with her. Emma's mother was on board with the idea. She was hoping that this new charter school would help Emma improve her grades. So just a week before starting 10th grade she was dragged away from her small group of friends at Hambing high and forced into American Academy of Innovation. Luckily Hazel was there to join her on her first day. But even though she was in her second semester she only had two friends. Hazel (of course), and Amie.

"Emma" the voice of her math teacher, Mr. Warren, shook her out of her thoughts. "Mind telling the class what I was talking about?"

Emma swallowed hard. "Sorry," she said sweetly "I would… but I'm afraid I'm losing my voice" she did a fake cough at the end for effect. She heard Amie giggle a few seats behind her. The teacher frowned at her for a moment before continuing his lecture on exponents. That was close.

As soon as the bell rang for school to end she bolted out of the classroom. She couldn't stand another minute in this prison! The long ride on the subway home left her annoyed beyond belief. Stupid people. Why are humans so loud and obnoxious? Finally, she lay sprawled out on her bed like a starfish, headphones in and music blaring in her ears. Blocking out the sounds of her Mother yelling at someone on the phone. Home sweet home. She tossed around on the black and white patterned bedspread. Her room was, like the rest of the apartment, old and worn out. Her neighborhood was sketchy. But her mother couldn't afford anything better. Emma's family was poor. Light blue painted walls were chipped faded. Large cracks ran down the length of the walls. An assortment of dirty clothes, old papers, and colored pencils littered her dusty floorboards. She whipped open her bedside drawer and pulled out a bright green notebook that was covered in Sharpie doodles. Inside were comics. Superhero comics of her own creation. Someday she would be a cartoonist. Or a character designer. Or an animator. Or something else that sounded cool. Her comic book superheroes were based off the Avengers. The Avengers was awesome! People she admired! Ever since they saved New York she had been a fan. (who wouldn't? They did save the world after all).

The drawing was her form of escaping. The was the pencil traced over previous lines, so refined, so… perfect, it was beautiful. It was art! She could get lost in the paisley patterns of sharpie on certain pages, the scent of pencil lead and wooden shavings, the action packed pages that popped as you turned the pages. Various drawings and paintings of her own design had ended up in the artist showcases her previous school put on. But now she was in a new school. She had to build her reputation up again.

Hazel had said the new school would be a clean slate. Yeah right. It was just another crowd to get lost in. another sea of students to ignore her. She was the quiet girl in the background. No one cared for whatever reputation she set for herself.

Left to her depressing thoughts, Emma crawled into a ball. She tried to forget about life, just think about drawing. The colors of markers, the boxes of crayons in her closet, types of artist canvases… it didn't work. She lay down and tried not to cry…

The evening crawled by. Her Mom left for work (she was a nurse at the hospital and worked nights), so she was left alone at the house. Emma slid into the kitchen to grab some food. The cracked kitchen tiles and scuffed countertops indicated the many years of use. The kitchen had a stench to it, one like old food and dust. But that was to be expected, the apartment building was very old. Her mom wouldn't be back until Five am, and who knows when her dad would be back. Assorted remixes of pop songs blasted from her phone as she ate her small dinner and called Hazel. Hazel and Emma talked about the usual, boys, school, comics, friends, more comics.

That was when the front door blast open. In walked her father, his mechanic uniform crumpled and his hair matted. The smell of cigarettes clung to him and made Emma want to gag. Emma gathered her stuff and started walking toward her room when a shout from her dad caught her attention.

Her father, Cash, was tall and rather thin. He had messy dark brown hair that he almost never combed through. His dark brown eyes had large dark bags under them. His pale face gave him a tired look. He usually wore sports jerseys or his work uniform. Emma hated him. He left frequently and usually wouldn't come back for weeks on end. Whenever he did come back home he acted like he owned the place and its occupants. He was downright awful.

"Why are you here?" he asked her gruffly

Emma spun around and stared at him for a few seconds. "Well, being your daughter I have to live here until I turn eighteen." she crossed her arms and looked at him coldly, "don't worry, as soon as I'm legally an adult I'll be out of here. Why are you back?"

The older man turned toward the fridge and started rummaging through it. "Cause this is my house, girly."

"Could have fooled me," Emma mumbled. When Cash looked up at her she continued, "you're gone so much. So I've started a campaign to kick you out for good." she smirked, then turned and headed into her room.

"Yeah that's right, go and hide after that comment." Emma heard him grumble from his spot in the kitchen. "No one wants you here anyway."

Ouch. hit her in a weak spot. One of her many insecurities. Emma threw her stuff onto the bed and stormed back into the kitchen. "Why can't you leave? Can't you see? Every time you show your face here it makes mom even sadder!"

Cash turned around and glared at her. "Would that make you happy? For me to leave you fatherless?"

"Like you care! I'm already fatherless! I HATE YOU!"

"Listen up girly, I didn't choose to have you! If it was up to me, you wouldn't exist! But here you are! You are such an ungrateful little child."  
"Ungrateful!?" Emma seethed "you have a family! But you take us and our money for granted and leave us for weeks on end!"

"I've given you a house and food! And if you don't watch it I can dump you out on the streets. The streets are exactly where you belong. Now get out of my sight!"

"I wish you were dead!" Emma screamed. "I wish you left for good last year! Like you threatened to!"

Cash took a few menacing steps toward her. Emma shrank back in fear. Cash never hit her but she didn't want to take chances. He took ragged and heavy breaths, his eyes were dark and dangerous, his large fists were clenched tightly. "And I wish you weren't dumped on me years ago," he said dangerously. "Now get out of my sight before I dump you back on them!"

Emma's eyes burned with unshed tears. She glared coldly at the man in front of her. This… this- _idiot_ was her father? A father who didn't want her. Sparks flashed from behind her father. The air burned hot around the two. Emma started seeing red. The air was hot and thick like they were inside an oven. Emma snapped back to attention when she heard Cash stifle a gasp. Once Emma looked around the room returned to normal. The man shot her a disgusted glare before returning back to the fridge.

The new pencil pressed hard against the paper in front of her. The edge which used to be sharp was now dull and smeared. The lead traced upon the mask of captain America, effectively making the previous line thicker and bolder. Emma was lost in thought. Mindlessly improving on her sketch of Captain America while thinking of her broken family life. A mother who poured all she had into her work, a father who didn't like her and was never home. He didn't care for his daughter or wife. All the money he received was spent on hotel rooms and drinks, instead of his family. What a loving place to grow up in.

"Ooh that's pretty good" Hazel slid into the seat beside her. "If that wasn't your geography project you've been drawing on, I'd recommend turning it into the school art show."

"I hate him," Emilia growled.

Hazel quirked an eyebrow at Emma's paper. "Who? Captain America?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "My dad. He came back last night."

Hazel' eyes met Emma's brown ones. "He's back? But he hasn't been there for three months. Why's he back?"

Emma shrugged. "I dunno. I don't know why he doesn't just leave for good. Divorce mom and spend the rest of his days in hotel rooms and bars."

Hazel sighed. "I hate him too."

"He said something last night Hazel. I don't know what it means." Emma said quietly. She bowed her head a bit while her eyes looked up at her friend. "He told me I was dumped on him. He's said stuff like it before…. But…"

"So you were unplanned? That happens." Hazel said in an understanding voice.

"That's what I've always thought!" Emma's head snapped up. "But then he said he would 'dump me back on them'"

"Back on who?" Hazel wondered aloud. "Are you sure that's what he said?"

"Positive." Emma buried her head in her hands. "I guess I should forget about it? He was probably drunk anyways."

"Don't think about it too much Emma. he probably meant nothing by it."

They were quiet for a minute before Emma spoke again, her head was still buried in her hands. "The sparks- it happened again last night."

Hazel frowned. "We _really_ need to research this." at Emma's groan she added, "Oh common! You can't avoid that library forever!"

Emma made some weird noise between a groan and a sigh. "Libraries hate me."

"Libraries don't hate you! You're in the school library right now!"

" _The public_ library hates me!"

"Maybe you should stop running in it then! You wouldn't get kicked out all the time if you weren't knocking over shelves."

Emma lifted her head to give Hazel an Incredulous look. "Telling me to stop running is like telling my dad to stop coming back. We never listen."

"But you can make sparks appear out of thin air! That's not normal, Emma!" Hazel yelled. The librarian shot her a nasty glare and several students looked their way. "Sorry," Hazel said nervously. The room slowly returned to normal.

"Fine. we'll go to the library. But I doubt we'll find anything new." Emma huffed. Her eyes flitted back to her Homework assignment she had doodled on. She picked up her pencil and began drawing once again.

 **Hello, dear readers! Welcome to my first ever Avengers universe fan fiction! Imma gives a quick disclaimer, this story takes a while to pick up. So PLEASE bear with me!  
**

 **For all of you who are only reading this because I wrote the Emilia Lupin fanfic… hello there! And cheers to you! The next chapter to that story will be coming out very soon.  
**

 **But no matter the reason you're here, you should definitely press that review button because it means a whole heck of a lot to me! See ya next chapter!  
**


	2. Chapter 2: The New Kid

The class slowly filtered into the dimly lighted classroom. Time for another round of torture- world geography. Emma sat back in her chair and started kicking at Hazel's chair in front of her. Her friend hunched her shoulders in concentration, trying to ignore Emma's antics. Miss. Harris cleared her throat to get the classes attention. Next, to her, a tall handsome kid with brown hair and eyes stood confidently. He had an old black and red hoodie, worn black jeans, and faded red sneakers.

"Class, this is Adrian Campbell. He's a new student here at American Academy of Innovation." he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Adrain, how about you tell us about you?"

The brunette smiled a bit. "Um- I like to build stuff. I built this robot last year that can pick up pencils. I dunno what the purpose for that is- it's cool though!" he smiled sheepishly. "I like soccer, but I don't play. And I moved from San Diego California."

"Thank you, Adrian. How about you sit by miss Waylon towards the back?" Miss Harris said. The class turned towards Emma.

Emma sat up straighter. "Over here" she raised her hand for Adrian to see. "I'm Emma Waylon." She smiled tightly as the teen came nearer. Adrain was pretty cute! As the class lecture began Emma resumed kicking the back of Hazel's chair.

"So Adrian, tell me about yourself." Emma quirked an eyebrow at the boy. The class was given another geography packet and told to work with the person next to them. Emma took the opportunity to get to know Adrian more. He was rather- intriguing.

"I thought I just told the class." he quirked an eyebrow too. With that facial expression, they looked like twins.

"That was around twenty-five minutes ago. I never remember anything over five minutes ago." she rolled her eyes. "I'll go first... I'm Emma Waylon, I suck at geography, I love drawing (especially superheroes), I'm an only child, I've only ever lived here, in Brooklyn, and I've always wanted a dog." she finished with a kind smile. "Now you go".

"Wow." Adrian began. "I'm Adrian Campbell, I love building and science, I don't like school but I'm good at it. I used to live in San Diego California but my dad got a job here. I have a younger sister named Crissy and a dog named Rigby."

"Why are you at a charter school?" Emma asked

Adrian sighed, "I should be moved forward a few grades cause I'm pretty smart-" Emma smirked and rolled her eyes at his choice of words. "My mom doesn't want to attract too much attention- I dunno why. So she stuffed me in a charter school instead. She thinks this place will help?"

"Excuse me, Class," Miss Harris struggled to get the classes attention. "I'll wait!" she called out hopelessly. The usual chatter continued as though Miss Harris hadn't said anything.

Emma cleared her throat. "HEY! Listen up!" the talking came to a stop almost immediately. The teen was rather shocked at her own bravery! That was more a spur of the moment thing!

Miss Harris shot Emma a mix between a grateful and stern look. "That was rather unnecessary, Miss Waylon."

Emma only smiled and leaned farther back in her seat. She could hear Adrain and Hazel stifling laughs. "Your welcome."

"Homework!" the class groaned but Miss Harris continued on anyway. "make a presentation and 8 page report on a topic of your choosing." murmurs broke out across the classroom. " **But,** it must be a topic that you'd consider an important part of history. I'll accept almost any topic as long as you can prove how important it is. You may work in groups of two or three. This is due next Friday!"

Emma grinned at the easy assignment. Hazel and Adrian turned towards her as soon as Miss Harris stopped talking.

"Alright! This should be easy!" Adrian cheered. "Though, an 8-page report is gonna be boring."

"What's our topic gonna be?" Emma asked. "Cause, I have a few ideas."

"It has to be something entertaining," Hazel said slowly. She started tossing ideas around the friends. "A war? The telephone? Electricity? A birth of a country?"

"Oh yes, Electricity would be a _riveting_ topic," Adrian said sarcastically. "What about the first robot? Or the first-"

"The first Avenger!" Emma smiled enthusiastically.

"You want to do our report on _captain America_?" Adrian said incredulously.

"Not surprised." Hazel sighed and got out a pen and paper. "Captain America it is."

Adrian looked back and forth between Hazel's smirk and Emma's grin. "Make it a wider topic. Bigger it is, more to write about. Do 'the Avengers'"

"Yes!" Emma practically squealed in excitement.

"I'm sorry Adrian, she's a fangirl." Hazel smiled apologetically. "We'll meet tomorrow at the library. Does 5:30 sound good?"

Emma groaned. "Not the library! I hate that library!"

Adrian started to smile. "Why?"

"All the librarians at the public library hate me. And I'm sick of being there!"

"AGAIN, Emma! Maybe if you respected the place a bit there wouldn't be a problem!"

"I respect it!" Emma said indignantly. "You don't respect it," she muttered.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "You've knocked over two shelves by running, you ripped a book in half when you were frustrated with an essay, you hit an old librarian lady with a pencil while trying to play 'darts' with your pencils-"

"I get it!" Emma grumbled.

"We could meet at my house?" Adrian spoke up. He shrugged and looked at Emma, "maybe you'll like it better than the library?"

"Good!" Hazel clapped her hands together. "5:30 tomorrow evening at Adrian's!" just as they finished planning, the bell rang for class to end.

"I officially hate that kid," Emma growled as she sat down. The 'kid' she was talking about sat a table away, clutching his face in a weird way. Emma dropped her pizza onto a few napkins sitting on the lunch table. Lunch was always an interesting affair. Emma, Hazel, Amie, and Adrian sat at their usual table, towards the back of the room.

"Oh no." Hazel groaned. "What did Carson do now? And why don't you have a lunch tray?"

"He wanted my tray. So I gave it to him, along with a bloody nose." Emma said as she took a bit of pizza. Adrian burst out laughing and Amie nearly choked on her milk. Hazel tried to hide her smile.

"You're gonna get suspended," Hazel said simply. "And Carson's cronies are gonna come for you."

"What's new? I've been suspended before and Carson is already after me." Emma smirked. "I didn't need a tray anyways! I was more than happy to give him a tray **and** a nose job!"

"We have an essay due in two days." Adrian reminded. "How about we meet at my house again? There's a park right behind it we could go to afterward."

"Only two days?" Emma gasped. "I thought we had a week!"

"We _did_ have a week." Hazel sighed. "That was a week ago! I can't make it tonight but you two should meet anyway."

"You sure?" Emma asked.

"Positive," Hazel said quietly. "I think Carson has a complaint about the nose job…"

"Hey shrink!" Carson called. His two friends, Lucas and Eric, stood at his sides. Lucas was the type of guy to have a new girlfriend every week. He was a handsome football jock with curly blond hair. Eric was a brute that Carson only kept around for his strength. Both him and Carson had the same red hair. Carson's red hair and deep green eyes made him rather attractive. But with his currently bloodied nose, he wasn't attracting any girls.

"Shrink? You really need to come up with something original." Emma sighed and turned around. "Wow, Carson! Blood red is really your color."

"Shut up Waylon." he frowned. "Adrian, right?" he came up to Adrian and punched his arm. "Common Cambell, don't hang with idiots like Waylon and Stewart."

"I'm fine thanks," Adrian said much more confidently. "I'm no good at sports- and beating up students."

"You-" Eric stepped towards Adrian with his fists raised. Adrian didn't back down an inch. Instead, Adrian and Emma stood up to face the three students.

"Sit down, Shrink. Before you hurt yourself." Carson frowned and turned towards his friends. "Are you two… related? You look similar." he gestured towards Emma and Adrian.

Adrian and Emma turned toward each other. Now that Carson brought it up, they did look similar. Adrian and Emma had the exact same wavy-ish dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Their skin tone was the same and the way they stood was the same.

"I don't think we're related…" Emma trailed off when they both crossed their arms at the same time.

"It's only been a few days and Waylon's already got a thing for him. Trying to impress, Waylon?"

"Shut up you idiot. You can't change your genetics to look like someone." Emma growled. She studied Adrian a bit more before turning back to Carson. "We look alike. So what? Now get out of here before your stupidity rubs off on us!"

Carson smirked. "Make me."

Emma stepped closer. She only came up to his shoulder. "Gladly," she growled. With a single swing, she had completely broken Carson's nose.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Hazel yelled. Emma took another bite of her apple and waited for Hazel to finish her rant. "He wasn't even being that annoying! And you BROKE HIS NOSE? Are you CRAZY Emma!"

"Probably." Emma smiled a bit.

"No no no- **don't** do that!" Hazel threw her hands up in the air.

Emma sat up straighter. "Do what? What'd I do?"

"You and your arrogance and agreeing with me- it's annoying! You could have apologized! But instead you said something stupid- like you usually do- and now you're suspended. _**AGAIN**_."

"Isn't it great? I don't have to present our essay on Friday!"

"Emma that is _not_ a good thing!" Hazel sighed and flopped down into a chair beside Emma. "you had better still meet Adrian at his house tonight."

"I will don't worry. He had good snacks and a cute dog."

"Thanks, Emma," Adrian laughed as he walked up to them. "I'm glad you like my dog. Rigby is great."

"Tonight at 7:00 works for me," Emma said. "Work for you?"

"Ya," Adrian responded thoughtfully. "Are you sure we aren't related?"

Emma looked at him and realized their stance was the exact same. "I don't think so… I mean, our last names are very different. Do you know of any other Waylon?"

"Nope. just you," Adrian said.

"You two look scarily similar. And you both run your hands through your hair and cross your arms a lot." Hazel said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

Miss Skylar Waylon walked through the school's office doors. Emma's mother was very tall. She had light blonde hair and dull blue eyes. She wore nurse scrubs and high heels and carried a fancy black purse. Her hair was up in a perfect bun.

Emma sighed. "Bye guys. I'll see you later, Adrian."

Adrian and Hazel watched as Emma trudged towards her mom. They two left the office in a hurry. "You know," Adrian said, "she looks nothing like her mother."

"She doesn't look like her father either. He's also really tall and has light brown hair." Hazel supplied. "I don't know where she gets her looks. She's really pretty."

"Yes, she is," Adrian said thoughtfully.

Emma dropped her bag onto her bed with a 'thwump'. She slid into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge. Emma grabbed a string cheese and sat down at the kitchen table. She tried to focus on the school day, not the man sitting across from her. Cash was home. He hadn't left at all since last week.

"Why are you home, Girlie?" Cash's gruff voice broke the silence first.

Emma sighed. "I got suspended. Broke some dudes nose."

She heard Cash's hoarse laugh and clenched her fists. "Definitely sounds like something you'd do."

Emma sighed again. "It does, doesn't it? I can't help it though! Carson's such a brainless thug!"

Cash kept looking at his phone. He hadn't looked up at Emma once. "Good going."

Emma was a bit taken back. The last time cash had ever said something nice to her was on her fourteenth birthday. She was sixteen now. "Thanks," she said quietly. There was more silence after that. Emma suddenly remembered something he'd said earlier. This seemed like the perfect time to bring it up.

"Last week, you said you'd 'dump me back on them'. Who were you talking about?"

Cash looked up from his phone and closed his eyes tightly. "I- I didn't say that. Forget about it."

"No. what did you mean?" Emma leaned forward.

"Listen up kid, I said forget about it. Now run off to your room and leave me alone."

"So it wasn't a slip-up! You really meant it! Where did I come from?" Emma smiled.

Cash rubbed a hand across his face. "Who says you came from anywhere? I didn't mean it ok!?" he raised his voice a bit.

"I was dumped here years ago? You'll dump me back on them? I've been hearing this for years! I always thought it was some empty lie you told to hurt me!"

Cash growled and stood up. "Get out of here! You're some freak of nature who's too clever for her own good."

Emma stood up too. Her hands shook with anger she struggled to push down. "Why won't you tell me? What are you hiding?"

"I DID TELL YOU!" he shouted. "I told you that there's NOTHING TO IT!"

"YOU'RE LYING!" Emma threw her string cheese at Cash's chest. "You ALWAYS LIE! And you're TOO STUPID to realize that I can see right through you!"

"You need to show some respect for your elders, girlie." he ground out. "Now listen to your father and GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Emma's hands started shaking uncontrollably. Pure rage blinded her momentarily. She felt her hands getting warm and her eyes burn. Then something hard crashed into her head.

Cash was gripping a fork tightly in his hand. Emma looked down at the floor and saw a plate he must have thrown at her. And that was when she noticed the fire.

Emma screamed. Her hands were enveloped in orange flames, along with the tips of her hair. But it wasn't spreading, or burning. Emma lifted her hands in front of her face. The flames actually felt cold to her touch and seemed to be coming from her palms.

"TURN IT OFF! MAKE YOUR FIRE GO AWAY!" Cash screamed at the top of his lungs. Emma cowered away from the man as he rapidly came towards her. Cash threw his large hands onto her shirt and started shaking her. Already afraid of getting hurt by him again, Emma stuck her hands onto his shirt and Heard Cash's yelps. The fire began spreading and consuming his whole shirt and burning his skin. Cash screamed in agony and ripped his shirt off. The burning material was thrown onto the cold kitchen tile. Her dad stomped on the flames to stop them.

The smoke had made the fire alarms go off. Emma ran outside in a scared and smoky haze. Cash was heard yelling from inside as the alarms blared in his ears. Emma continued running down the street, not stopping until she reached Adrian's house.

The sun slowly set behind the city skyline. The cool breeze blew Emma's hair around her shoulders and into her face. She didn't bother to brush it back. Instead, she watched the birds fly above her and the cars race by. She walked everywhere nowadays, as her mother was never home to give her a ride. Her mother was a cold woman who loved her job. She poured all she had into her work and forgot about everything else. But the girl knew why she did it. She was desperately lonely and depressed. The blonde took pills every morning and evening so she wouldn't become even more suicidal. Emma was surprised to see her in the office today. When she was suspended three months ago her mother called the office to tell Emma to walk home. But her mom was shaken up by talking to her father last night. Cash was still at the house, eating the food and making Emma's life hell. Her mother, Skyler Waylon, had dropped her off at home and said nothing as she drove off to her work.

Finally, after around twenty minutes of walking, she reached Adrian's apartment. The apartment had a small park behind it that was usually very busy. Now only a few older kids played on it, as it was getting dark. After making sure it was 7:00, Emma rang the doorbell.

"Emma! Please, come in!" a middle aged brunette woman answered the door. Emma recognized her as Adrian's mom. The woman looked worried as soon as she lay eyes on Emma. "your head is bleeding dear, do you want an ice pack?".

"No thank you." Emma kindly replied. She gently touched the cut on her forehead and remembered the plate that had been thrown at her. A large husky jumped up onto Emma as soon as she stepped into the room.

"Get off her Rigby." Adrian's mom shooed the dog away. "Adrian's in his room, dear."

Emma slowly walked down the hall with Rigby trailing along behind her. "Hey Adrian." she smiled. The teen was sitting at a cluttered desk, tinkering with a small mechanic arm.

"Just a second, Emma. lemme finish with this." He continued poking the metal with wires and screw drivers. Emma looked around the cluttered room. He had light blue walls and shaggy gray carpet. The bed had a dark green comforter and variously patterned blankets on the end. Weird red and blue Christmas lights decorated the head board. Textbooks and instruction manuals covered his small brown nightstand. A broken orange reading lamp lay on the floor near the bed, on top of a pile of clothes. Posters littered the walls and unpacked boxes covered the floor. But something caught Emma's eye. Something was wedged between the closet door and the wall. A frozen basketball? When she stepped closer to it she could see a thin layer of ice surrounding the ball.

"Sorry." Adrian smiled apologetically, "I should have cleaned up a bit."

"What's this?" Emma kicked the basketball towards Adrian, scattering bits of un melting ice everywhere.

Adrian looked alarmed. "S-science project!" he quickly tossed the basketball into the closet. "It's nothing."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "What was it really? Cause we haven't had any science projects due since you've moved here."

"An old science project." Adrian turned away and looked at the desk. "Look we should get to work-"

"-It can't be an old science project." Emma folded her arms on top of her chest. "That ice would have melted."

Adrian stopped. A dull blush crept onto his cheeks. "Look, can we just- drop it?"

Emma was now very intrigued. "Common Adrian! Where did the ice come from!"

"Fine! I'll tell you." his eyes darted to the open door. "But not here."


	3. Chapter 3: secrets Revealed

Emma and Adrian lay on the cool grass by the park. The sun had long since gone down and the park was empty and dark. A cool breeze blew the grass around Emma. the sounds of cars and birds were heard from different directions. It was peaceful laying in the Grass with Adrian. Emma wrapped her arms tighter around her torso.

"Do you have secrets?" Adrian broke the silence.

Emma didn't answer straight away. "A few," she admitted.

"What if- if we just told each other everything? I mean, what I'm going to tell you is something I've never told _anyone_. Not even my family." Adrian shifted uncomfortably.

Emma sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. "I've told Hazel a bit about my secrets…. I guess I can tell you."

"It's weird," Adrian said quietly. "We've only known each other for about a week. But I feel so- close to you. As a friend of course."

Emma smiled and put her head on his shoulder. "I feel almost as close to you as I am with Hazel." she chewed on her bottom lip nervously. As she turned to look at Adrian and rolled her eyes. He was chewing on his bottom lip the same way she was. And crossing his legs like she was. "We must be related in some way!"

Adrian seemed to realize the similarities between them once again. "This is really strange." there was silence before Adrian spoke. "I'll start with the easy stuff. My parents don't love me as much as my younger sister. And this isn't sibling rivalry! My moms- told me."

Emma gathered her courage and delved into the hard topic, "My dad disappears for months on end. He never tells us where he goes, but once when he came home drunk he said that he went to bars almost every night. He hit my mom that night. And I found his hotel room key on the kitchen table. Every time I see him we get into a fight."

Adrian frowned. "Is that what happened to your head?"

"I took a glass plate to the head," Emma said sullenly and Adrian winced.

His confession was next: "My dad's told me he doesn't care all that much for me. My mom yells at me a lot and tells me I'm not as good as my younger sister. Crissy doesn't know what's going on, she's eight years old and doesn't get why they don't love me. It's hard to explain it to her. I can't explain it myself." Adrian wrapped an arm around Emma's shoulder.

"It breaks my mom's heart every time she see's my dad. I hear her cry herself to sleep. She works as a nurse at the hospital down the road. She works every shift she can just so she doesn't have to be home. I don't see her much. I've kinda raised myself…" Emma trailed off.

Adrian took his hand from Emma's shoulder. "I have one more thing… what about you?"

Emma swallowed hard. "Only one more."

Adrian sat up and Emma followed. As Adrian waved his calloused hand over a few blades of grass the grass froze. A thick layer of frost coated the blades of deep green grass. Emma gasped as he waved his hand over her leg. Her pant leg became coated in thin white ice. And it wasn't a trick, this was real, cold, ice! The feel of numbing cold shot through her leg as it started to melt.

"I've had ice powers for as long as I can remember." Adrian smiled weakly. Emma just stared at him with her mouth hanging open slightly.

"I-you-i have… you have- ice! Fire and ice!" she gasped.

"Um… no, just ice. Fire would be cool though" he smiled sheepishly.

Emma cleared her throat and looked at the frozen stiff blades of grass. With a few deep breaths, she waved her palm over the grass and the ice melted. Emma grabbed a small twig and set it on her palm. The twig immediately caught fire.

Adrian gasped and blasted her palm with ice. Emma yelped and melted the ice off.

"Cold! Ice is cold! I have fire powers Adrian, you didn't need to save me!" she laughed. So Adrian had ice powers! That was crazy! "What are the chances? Someone who's my exact same age moves just a few blocks away from me, looks just like me, goes to my small school, befriends me, and had powers just like mine!"

Adrian and Emma laughed and ran a hand through their hair at the same time. They both looked at each other and laughed again. "Our- powers. They are almost exactly like each other!" Adrian whispered more to himself than anything.

"We definitely have to be related now- right?" Emma asked. She shivered in the night air and wrapped her arms around herself.

Emma didn't know how long they stayed outside. She didn't know when she fell asleep with her head on Adrian's chest. But she did know that things changed since that night. And somehow she knew, as she drifted off the sleep, that things would never be the same.


	4. Chapter 4: Loosing Control

Emma was right, Things weren't the same. But that was definitely not a bad thing. Over the next few weeks, Emma and Adrian grew closer and closer, "as friends" Emma would emphasize to anyone that asked. And it was true, though Adrian was amazing, Emma didn't have any attraction for him. Emma and Adrian hung out with each other frequently and practiced enhancing their powers.

But not all was good. In the last few weeks, Emma started losing control of her powers. A Strong burst of fire would come out of her hands when she fought with her father. she set fire to Carson's shirt when he tried to punch her, she set her dinner on fire whenever she tried to cook, and the worst thing was the nightmares…

 _Her long dark hair blew into her face, but she didn't wipe it back. Everything was hot and dry. Crackling of flames rang in her ears like sirens. The smell of thick and heavy smoke felt crushing and toxic in her brain. All she could see were huge walls of orange flame surrounding her. Other than the flames there was darkness and extreme heat. Figures were screaming from behind the fire, burning alive, but Emma couldn't reach them. Their pained screams tore through Emma's heart, cutting deep into her mind and searing their voices into her conscious. Then her mother fell through the wall of fire. Skylar Waylon was burning alive and screaming bloody murder. Red flames covered her face and arms, her skin turned black and melted off. The smell of burning flesh and fabric made Emma gag. Emma couldn't move. She could only stare, helpless, as Skylar Waylon Howled in burning agony. Emma reached out her hand to help but flames came out, adding to the fire eating Skylar. Hot tears leaked from Emma's eyes and trickled down until they dripped off her chin. "Mom! M-mom just g-grab my ha-and! I-i can save you!" she sobbed and she held out her hand. Her mother continued her wails, oblivious to Emma's offer. Emma screamed as her mother turned into nothing but dark gray ashes, blowing in the windy black abyss. Someone came up from behind her. Emma could sense their daunting presence somehow. When she spun around she expected to see a burning body or a screaming child. Instead, she saw her friend, Adrian, with a murderous look plastered onto his face.  
_

 _"This is your fault!" Adrian screamed. His voice was deep and thick with emotion. "You're going to kill me too, aren't you?"_

 _"No!" Emma yelled above the roaring flames. "Adrian-"_

 _Adrian's eyes grew red and his skin darkened. Flames erupted from inside him and proceeded to envelop him. He screamed bloody murder just like Skylar did. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, EMMA!" he took a step forward and tried to lunge at Emma. Emma held her hands over her head to protect herself, but by doing so she set more fire on Adrian. Within seconds the teenage boy melted away into ashes. Emma Screamed. She yelled and kicked and threw flames every which way. But there was nothing she could do. With one final decision, she leaped into the wall of fire and attempted to burn alive.  
_

Emma shrieked. She shot upright in her bed and screamed again. Her bed sheets were on fire and smoke was filling the room fast. The fire alarms were ringing in her ears and she could hear cash and Skylar's screams from outside her room. Emma screamed again when she realized her arms were covered in flames! She rolled off the bed and ran to the door, flinging it open and running outside before Cash could yell at her. Sprinting down the hall she caught glimpses of cash and Skylar nearly flying down the stairs to where she was headed. She heard the sirens of fire trucks coming down the street. Bright lights shone on her apartment and firemen raced to put out the flames. Like the trained professionals they were, they quickly began hosing down the building. Neighbors were gathered outside, crying on each other's shoulders and holding their kids protectively.

For Emma, everything was a smokey haze. She couldn't make out what the firemen were saying to her mother or father. And she didn't know what they were doing when they rushed around her, trying to put her flames out. But as someone doused her with cold water to put out the flames on her arms, everything went black.

"Emma? Are you awake?" A soft female voice rang out in the dim room. Emma slowly sat up in her bed and rubbed a hand over her face. As the girl looked around she realized she was in her own bed again. Laying on top of a brand new comforter. This one was a pure black with white pillows and black polka dot sheets. Hre old one was black and white lace. She must have burnt it too badly to repair... 

Skylar sighed. She sat on the end of her bed while cash leaned against the far wall. "The doctor said you're perfectly healthy. Of course, no one understands how. All they know is you were on fire and went into shock." she ran a hand down her face, smearing her makeup even more. "Emma, what's with the fire?"

Emma sat upright in bed and wiped a few stray tears off her face. "W-what? How do you-"

"I've lived with you for 15 years, Emma. I know you have some weird fire thing going on." Skylar said tiredly.

"Isn't it 16 years?" Emma smirked. Skylar paled a bit. "Yeah. 16. Right." Emma narrowed her eyes a bit but wisely kept her mouth shut.

"What is wrong with you, girlie?" Cash growled.

"What?" Emma spun around to look at him.

"You. set. My. house. On. fire!" cash yelled. "The damn fire department had to come!"

Skylar hit his shoulder with her bag. "Language!"

"I'll watch my language when that- that THING apologizes!" Cash shouted.

Emma glared at Cash. if looks could kill, Cash would be six feet underground by now. "I had a nightmare. And somehow I caught the bed on fire."

"You forced me to call the fire department!"

"I never _forced_ you to do anything, old man!"

"I want you out of my house! forever!"

"Good! I'll help you pack! When are you moving?" Emma shouted. "You're never there! I don't know why you're still here!"

"I want to help this family!" Cash didn't yell that time. Instead, he looked rather sad.

"Oh? And why the sudden change? You've never wanted to help before! Are you just realizing now that you could have had a better life? IT'S TOO LATE!"

"EMMA!" Skylar jumped up from her chair. Sparks were flying through the dim room and small bursts of flames were coming from Emma's hands. The bed sheets around her were turning crispy brown. Emma quickly snapped out of it and started blinking back tears.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" cash jumped up again. "Can you not leave out the fire for one damn second?" he roared. Emma shrunk back.

With a small sniffle, she said miserably, "I can't control my powers anymore."

-time lapse-

The bell finally rang for the third period to end. Emma thanked whatever god was up there as she packed up her stuff. She stuffed her school papers into her bag haphazardly. Adrian met up with her as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. The two friends met up with Hazel and silently walked down the noisy hallway. Neither one of them spoke to each other. Students pushed past, paper airplanes soared above their heads, the sounds of slamming locker doors and noisy chatting filled Emma's ears.

"Hey Shrink!" all three friends sighed and turned around slowly. Hazel, Adrian, and Emma recognized that voice. Sure enough, Carson and his Cronies blocked the hallway behind them. "I heard there was a fire at your place!"

Emma sighed. "Correct Carson. I'd give you a gold star, but I'm all out."

Carson scowled. "Finally commit suicide? I wouldn't blame you."

Adrian stepped in front of Emma. "she's had a hard weekend. Leave her alone."

"Oh look, shrink! You boyfriends gonna protect you!" Carson's cronies guffawed like rabid baboons. "Come at me, Campbell!"

Adrian just stood in place. His hands started to shake and his eyes became a numbing bright blue. "Go away, Carson."

"Or what? Your glare at me?" he laughed once. "You disgust me. Hanging around an attention whore like Emma Waylon. Can't you tell she's lying about the fire?"

Emma clenched her hands into fists. She wanted to yell back a witty remark but was much too worried about Adrian.

"Your an idiot, Adrian Campbell! You hang around with shams like Emma Waylon and Hazel Stewart! The only sane one around you is Amie!"

"Leave Amie out of this!" Hazel yelled. "You're sick, Carson! We've all been having a rough few days so if you could kindly leave-"

"-No!" Carson laughed. "That slut broke my nose! And set my shirt on fire!" he pointed at Emma. Adrian stepped completely in front of Emma to block her from Carson. "I wish you had died in that fire! Why don't you go home and finish the job? Go kill yourself, Waylon!"

That was the last straw. Carson was blasted back by a jet of ice. His legs and hands were frozen together and he lay in a heap on the floor. Several students screamed. Emma's hands erupted in flames and before she knew what was happening Carson's cronies were screaming in agony. Their shirts were blazing with bright orange flames. The lights in the hallway were flickering on and off and students screamed and ran through the halls. Chaos ensued. Several random students were frozen to their lockers while others screamed in terror as their backpacks combusted in flames. The floors became a sheen of white ice, the walls were burnt and frozen at the same time, the lights flickered and sparks flew through the air. Hazel had ducked down and was hugging Adrian's legs. Emma's whole torso was covered in the fire while Adrian's skin was frosty and pale. His clothes froze and stuck to his body. Emma frantically looked around. Noises We're starting to sound muffled in her head. Her mind became fuzzy with panic. And everything went black.

A bright light flickered on from somewhere in the room. Must she have blacked out? That's weird… then as if a dam broke, the memories came flooding back. Losing control- once again- and nearly killing Carson's cronies with her fire. The people in the room were whispering about some sort of fire and frozen water explosion. Footsteps echoed through the halls. A gruff voice spoke close to her. Emma recognized that voice. Cash was here.

"You are the girl's father, are you not?" A woman spoke in a rather condescending tone.

"She's none of my concern." Cash's gruff voice. Definitely Cash's voice.

"I'm telling you, Mr. Waylon, that this most definitely IS of your concern!" the woman sounded rather angry. She took a calming breath. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened. There have been other incidents with fire and all of them have had something to do with miss Waylon!"

"Look, Lady. That freak didn't start ANY fires. She's just a below average student!"

Emma had to keep herself from smiling. She kept her eyes closed so they would think she was still blacked out. But even if cash was insulting her, he was also defending her.

"If she did cause the fire-"

"She _**Didn't**_ start any fire! This school obviously has some issues with its heating system. Now I'm leaving! There's a football game on tv that I'm missing!" Cash trudged out of the school doors. Emma decided this was a good a time as any to pretend to wake up.

The office lady sighed irritatedly. "You're up, miss Waylon. That's good to see. We've evacuated the school and you are free to go home. We must have had some sort of problem with our heating and air conditioning." and with that, the well-groomed office woman walked off.

Emma and Adrian lay sprawled out on the grass. They were at the park behind his apartment once again. Emma fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt and Adrian's eyes were darting every which way. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Emma's hands started to sweat, Adrian's fingers fidgeted with the collar of his shirt, single blades of grass would find themselves coated in ice or burnt to a crisp.

"Ok!" Emma nearly yelled. Adrian sat up and Emma followed. "Ok," she repeated. "We need to talk about what happened today."

"What Carson said, about me being your boyfriend, you know that's not true right?"

Emma quirked an eyebrow. "I would hope it's not true. I'd like to be told that I'm getting a boyfriend WAY before Carson ever finds out."

Adrian bit back a laugh. "You know you and your love interest aren't communicating when the _school bully_ has to tell you you're dating."

There was comfortable silence for a moment before Adrian spoke again, "I don't have a crush on you. I- I actually see you as. As a sister." Emma's eyes widened and she looked at Adrian. "I screwed this up, didn't I?" he closed his eyes tightly.

"I see you as a brother Adrian." Emma smiled. "But we have some bigger issues."

"I wouldn't call it an issue," Adrian said quietly and smirked. Emma rolled her eyes before getting serious.

"We can't control our powers. We're dangerous." after Emma's line there was a stunned silence. "I realized that late last night when I was struggling to stay awake. After the fire- I haven't been sleeping. I can't afford to sleep. What if- what if I set everything on fire again?"

"We can't tell anyone but Hazel and ourselves about our powers, ok?" Adrian said quietly. "If people find out-"

Emma shuddered at the thought of people finding out. "Alright. I should get home. It's 11:30 so Cash will be passed out on the sofa. I can get by easily. Skylar won't be home until 3:00 this morning."

"You don't call your parents 'mom' and 'dad'?"

"Rarely," Emma said as she stood up. "Night, Adrian."

"Night Emma."


	5. Chapter 5: The Dreams

_There was nothing. All around there was pure white, piercing his entire soul with its intense color. No people, no figures, no outline, no noise. Nothing. Blinding white surrounded Adrian. He recognized where he was immediate. He was dreaming! Not again! Adrian pinched himself, punched himself, but every time he tried to wake himself up his hands got colder. Blue ice as jagged as spears, came blasting out of his frostbitten hands. His breath came in short gasps, he was suffocating in the claustrophobic emptiness. Adrian's scream so frightened, so thick and scared, exited his mouth and he didn't recognize his own cry. but his gaze was met with a giant monotonous blue wall of pure ice. The same colossal wall that he saw in his dreams every night. A thick layer of white ice covered every inch of the pure white ground. Snowflakes froze in mid-air and didn't move. The air was cold and harsh. He could see his breath every time he breathed. His thin sweatpants and t-shirt did little to protect him from the harsh winds.  
_

 _Then he heard a sob. A small child, probably around three years old sat on the other side of the ice wall._

 _"Hey!" Adrian taped on the wall to get his attention. "HEY! Are you ok? I-'ll- help you!" the child only seemed to cry harder. A man started pounding on the ice from the other side of the wall. "Help us! Don't leave us to die!" women cried helplessly, children screamed, men begged for mercy from the cold. Adrian lifted his hands to blast the wall open, but only added to its icy thickness. Harsher blows of ice did nothing but stick to the wall. When he threw his body against it nothing happened. He was helpless.  
_

" _Adrian!" a little girl's strained voice echoed in the frosty emptiness. "Adrian help me!"_

 _Adrian spun around when he realized the voice was from the same side as he was on. His little eight-year-old sister, Crissy, stumbled forward. She had a thin frozen pink blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was in a thin blue nightgown and shivering. The small blonde stretched a blueish shivering hand toward him. Adrian ran towards her with ease. Crissy seemed to slip and slide on the ice. Then she fell forward. Adrian reached out his hand to catch her fall but froze her instead.  
_

 _The little girl screamed as soon as the ice hit her pale skin. Just one blast of ice seemed to cover her whole body. He gripped the jagged ice and tried to pull it away. I somehow made it even bigger and stronger. Crissy was no more._

" _What have you done?" the breathless and jagged voice of Emma rang in his ears. "You've killed her!"_

 _"No.," he mumbled. "N-no. nooo." the teen spun around, trying to distinguish where Emma was, but only her voice was heard. No sign of a body.  
_

 _"You're a murderer, Adrian. You've killed us all!" Emma's voice was cold and distant. It was coarse and unforgiving. Snake-like. She sounded disgusted with him. The voice made him made him feel like filth. Someone unworthy of forgiveness.  
_

" _It's just a dream. It's just a dream" Adrian whispered frantically. He covered his ears and closed his eyes. "Its. just. A. dream!"_

 _"You're_ _ **Dangerous**_ _!" came a snake-like whisper. A voice as coarse as sandpaper, When Adrian opened his eyes there were bodies everywhere. Frozen stiff icy bodies of people he didn't recognize. But the ones directly in front of him he could see clearly. Emma's lifeless eyes looked up at him with horror.  
_

" _We're dead." the cruel whisper rang through his head mockingly. "And it's all. your. fault."_

"Hold him down!" a worried male voice spoke.

"He's kicking everywhere!" the feminine voice growled.

"What's wrong with him mommy?" that was Crissy's voice.

Adrian jumped out of his bed with a start. He felt something cold on the floor and lost his balance. His bedroom was dark and... cold. Colder than normal. He slowly stood up and looked around. Everything in his room, walls, floor, clothes, papers, all were coated with a thin layer of ice. Jagged spikes encircled his bed. Adrian screamed, thinking he was still in his dream. Crissy's arms wrapped tightly around his torso.

The teen spun around on the ice covering his floor. The frigid temperature, combined with the realization of what happened shook him to the core. His mother picked up Crissy and quickly left with a dirty look thrown over her shoulder at Adrian.

"What did you do, boy?" His father's gruff voice spoke. The man was a tad bit overweight, with dirty blond hair cut nearly to a buzz cut. He didn't look very threatening in his blue bathrobe and brown plaid pajamas, but Adrian knew better. His father, Doan Campbell, looked around the room and seemed to grow angrier. Adrian saw many emotions flash through the older man's eyes. Anger, disgust, and most importantly- fear. His father feared him. Fear is a very strong emotion, drawing man to do dangerous things, so it was little surprise what happened next.

"Y-you think… that you can show up in our house and destroy our family! We've always known you were different but THIS- this is too much! This is one too many accidents caused by your freak- of nature powers! You wonder why your mother and I don't like you," the man laughed cruelly. "It's because of you. Aren't. Ours. not our blood! Why should we take care of you?" he spits at the teen's feet.

The teen sat there, on the frozen ground, stunned. Had the words hurt? Of course! But the message behind them was more earth-shattering. Had his father just said… Wasn't Adrian his son? Did he really hear that right?

"Now you make this ice GO AWAY!" the middle-aged man roared.

Adrian seemed to shrink back more. He wore a worried expression plastered on his face. "I-I can't… do that."

The older man's voice got dangerously quiet, "what do you mean... You _**can't?**_ "

"This power… it doesn't work like that…" The teen's meek voice could barely be heard anymore. It was only faintly above a whisper. He shrunk back farther if possible.

"You mean to tell me, that you covered part of my house in ICE- and you can't clean up your mess? It'll have to melt and ruin my walls!?" the harsh tone made Adrian shrink back too far and fall onto his back, making him slide backward on the ice.

With a hard nervous swallow, the teen admitted, "I d-don't k-know if it will melt-"

"YOU WHAT?!" the man roared like an angry gorilla. His eyes grew darker, his shoulders hunched, like a tiger ready to pounce. "ALL YOU DO around here is INCONVENIENCE US! Well, I've had it already! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE!'

The teen shrank back in fear. "W-what!?"

"You heard me! OUT!" the gorilla-esk roar got Adrian to start shaking.

Doan Campbell was known for many things. His dedication to his company is loyalty to his wife and daughter, his hard-working attitude, but being merciful sadly wasn't one of his strong suits. The middle-aged man rushed forward and grabbed the teen boy by the arm. Pulling him to his feet and yelling even more. Flecks of spit flew at Adrian's face as he took the verbal abuse in shock. Doan all but dragged Adrian to the door and practically threw him out onto the porch. With a loud: "don't ever darken my doorstep again!" he slammed the door, hard."

A minute or two of shocked silence later, the door reopened. The tall, pale face of his mother poked around from behind the door, using it as a shield between her and her freak- son. "This is yours," she said coldly. A small duffle bag was tossed into his chest and the door closed with a sharp 'Snap'!

To say Adrian Campbell was shocked would be an understatement to be remembered. The poor boy couldn't stop shaking! His eye color was going haywire, going from it's usual brown to all icy blue. Half and half of the two colors then back to brown. To brown. To blue. Half and half. To blue. To brown. He threw the duffel bag strap around a shoulder and wrapped his arms around himself.

Things had never gotten this bad. Never before had he been permanently kicked out of his home. And how could he have been so naive as to think they wouldn't hear him thrashing around in his nightmares? This nightmare was worse than the others. Every night there was another horrifying element added on. Tonight he had lost control. Spreading ice around in his sleep, his room looked like an ice grenade had been set off inside!

He could only think of this happening one other time. At seven years old, living in San Diego California. He had passed the seventh-grade math exam while only in second grade. His teachers had met with his parents after school and suggest schools for gifted students. His parents had not so nicely refused. When they got home, young Adrian got an earful about staying hidden in the crowd, not drawing attention, and not letting on that he's smarter than average. At the time, Adrian had thought that was normal for parents to do.

Young Adrian had a dream that night. Something unlike any other…

" _Adrian." the soft voice called to him again. The pure white mist surrounding him was too thick to see too far ahead. The space around him was pure white. Somehow the sun shone on him from above. It was so bright! But everything was- oddly peaceful._

" _Adrian, love. Turn around." the voice was feminine. Soft and gentle. The sound swept through his brain, making him feel warm and fuzzy. The young brunette did as he was told and turned around. Not questioning the nurturing voice._

 _A young women. Twenty or so years old. Her face was tan and her eyes the same shade as his. Her brunette hair was soft and curled. Falling gently around her shoulders. The woman's eyes shone brightly as she looked him up and down. She smiled. Her pure white teeth made his heart glow. He felt accepted, warm, happy, and well- loved!  
_

" _It's me, Adrian," came the gentle voice of the young women. "It's mommy."_

 _The boy giggled. "You can't be my mommy! I already have one!"_

" _I know, love." she sighed sadly and got down onto her knees. "Come here Adrian." the tone was inviting. She smiled sadly and held her arms out to him. The young boy walked over to her slowly._

" _Are you really my mommy?" he asked quietly. The women gave no answer. A single tear drifted down her cheek. She looked heartbroken while looking at him. Suddenly Adrian was enveloped in a hug. The lady smelled like honey and warm milk. He felt like he could stay forever, in her embrace. He didn't want to let go. And apparently neither did she. Her gentle hands stroked through his soft brown hair, the same shade as hers._

" _Does your mommy love you? Back at your home?" she asked with a slight strain in her voice. She held him at arm's length but still ran her fingers through his hair._

 _The young boy thought for a moment before frowning. He started playing with the hem of his pajama shirt distractedly. "I don't think so…" he trailed off. After several more moments of fidgeting, he asked her, "if you're my real mommy, then do you love me?"  
_

 _Young Adrian was pulled into another embrace. The words, "of course I love you rang through his head, over and over like a lullaby. It lured him into a soft and comforting darkness which he woke up from moments later. The young boy opened his eyes to find himself back in his bed, the bedsheets and parts of the floor were covered thickly covered in ice. The second-grader cried himself back to sleep that night, wishing his 'mommy' would come back…  
_

Adrian remembered the rest of the night's events perfectly. Apparently, his mother had come to tell him to be quiet. She could hear his crying of deemed it 'much too loud for anyone's liking'. Seeing his real mother had caused him to cry louder. Leslie Campbell was getting angrier by the second. And that's when she saw the state of his room. Bed and flooring looked like they belonged in the north pole. She screamed. Doan Campbell came rushing in and yelped too, as he slipped on ice! The two parents furiously kicked the seven-year-old out of their home and told him not to come back until morning. Needless to say, he stayed at a friends house and didn't sleep at all that night.

Now the helpless teen roamed the streets, past the park, past the school, across a street or two… and as he looked up he saw Emma's apartment. The young man figured he'd walked here out of habit? He didn't walk here often… he shrugged and decided not to question it.

The knock on the door was soft. Almost as if the mystery stranger didn't know if he should be here. But hey, it was a good excuse to get out of the room. Her father was about to lose his cool and start yelling again. He was still pissed about the incident at school! That man can hold one heck of a grudge! 

Emma swung open the door with a carefree confidence, as if not remembering that it might not be a good idea to open the door at 3 am. 

"Emma, thank all that is holy! You're awake!" Adrian was leaning heavily against the door frame. His eyes were red with dark bags underneath. He looked like he'd been through hell and back.

The teen girl only quirked an eyebrow. "Would you like to come in?" she stepped aside to allow him entrance.

The boy who so closely resembled her stumbled into the front entrance. He dropped his duffle bag onto the floor with a heavy 'thump!' "I've been kicked out." he looked distraught as he said this, which was perfectly understandable. Emma knew the feeling those words brought. She knew that feeling only too well.

"Oh Adrian." she frowned in sympathy. "Well, you'll stay here! You can sleep in my closet." she smiled as the thought entered her head. And with that, she turned around and headed towards her room.

A confused Adrian Campbell followed. "That's it? Can I stay? You don't have to ask your parents?"

"Oh, that's not a problem!" Emma assured as she shoved a box out of her closet. She tore it open and took out a music note patterned sewed pillow and a peach colored blanket. Both were old and faded, showing their many years of use, but Adrian wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was lucky just to stay here!

"My dad's passed out drunk in the living room. He only ever watches sports and drinks while he's here. Mom's a nurse at the hospital and works any shifts she can. She hates being home, so she rarely is. Unless she decides she needs a bit of sleep before heading back to work…"

The boy frowned at her words but decided just to roll with it. "Ok, well imma go to sleep then…" he let the sentence hang. Emma didn't seem to be paying attention to anything he said. The girl was gathering a few pillows and tossing them onto her own bed.

"I guess I'll sleep too…" came the distracted response of Emma. Adrian shrugged and dropped his duffle bag into the closet. He was still wearing his night clothes so there was no need to change. With a tired sigh, the teen cuddled up with the blanket and attempted to sleep.

Before long Emma had gotten into bed and turned out the lights. The teens were now enthralled in the depths of unconscious sleep.

 _Adrian recognized this place immediately. The hazy white fog surrounding him felt like being wrapped up in a fleece blanket. The warm and cozy atmosphere was the exact opposite as his usual nightmare. He was safe- wherever this place is, he was safe in it._

 _"Adrian, love." the same soft voice he still remembered. How could he possibly forget that dream so long ago? Never had he had a dream that powerful? "I'm here. turn around darling." the honey like voice crooned. Without hesitation, the teen turned.  
_

 _The same young women. Her features smooth and perfect, like a child's porcelain doll. Her warm brown eyes and brunette curls were the same as Adrian's. For a second Adrian almost believed he was looking at Emma! But this woman was different; she was calmer and put together. "You." he said it in a statement as if to say, 'i remember you'.  
_

 _"You remember me?" as she smiled her eyes sparkled with passion and delight. She was the most wonderful woman Adrian had ever laid eyes on.  
_

 _Yet the teen was cautious. He had to know the truth. "I was seven." she cleared the emotion from with voice quickly. He wouldn't cry, not now. "You told me you were my… mother." he quirked an inquisitive eyes brow.  
_

 _"Yes," she said simply. "You sister is approaching."  
_

 _Adrian's eyes widened considerably. "Crissy is here?" he didn't quite know what to think! How did his little sister get here?_

" _Adrian?" a feminine voice rang through the white fog. That_ _ **definitely**_ _wasn't Crissy! The woman's voice was tougher, guarded, almost- scared? So weird that he could sense so much of the person just by their voice. He felt a connection to the voice like he'd known it all his life like he'd missed it for years at the same time… he turned around.  
_

 _There Emma stood. Adrian wanted to be surprised, but part of him sensed her before she even showed up. It was so- odd!_

 _The girl stood solemnly, her hands clasped in front of her. She wore a white dress like robe, the same as his 'mother'. Her face was fair and glowing with beauty. The chocolate brown eyes seemed to look into his soul, they liked what they saw in him. She smiled and her smile made his heart flutter. Not in a romantic way, but the way longing, peace, and sisterly love could do to you. He smiled back and noticed he wore a white robe too._

 _Adrian turned to his mother. "Where are we?"_

 _The woman smiled kindly, the way a mother looked at her child with adoring and complete love. A way Adrian had never been looked at before. How he basked in its glory!  
_

" _We are in the realm of the dead. Some call it paradise, some call it heaven…" she looked around the bright space with an air of happiness._

 _"What do you call it?" Emma asked fondly. Adrian realized how easy Emma was talking around her like Emma had seen her before.  
_

 _The woman smiled at her the way she had with Adrian. "Peace."_

 _"Why are you here?" Adrian asked with as much respect as he could. "is this all in my head?"  
_

 _"Of course it is happening inside your head, Adrian. But why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" she smiled with a mix of pride and mischief.  
_

 _Emma giggled. "Isn't that a quote from Harry Potter?"  
_

 _The woman laughed. "I couldn't resist. The quote was the exact answer I wanted."_

" _Why are you here? Are you real?" Emma asked curiously. She didn't sound like her sarcastic self now. She sounded raw, her pure personality enveloping her. Her walls were completely down, she was at peace. And Adrian loved her right then and there. Not in a romantic way, but like a brother._

 _The lady started walking slowly away. She turned and waved them towards her, motioning for them to walk with her. They did. Emma on her right and Adrian on her left. They both clung to her like a toddler to his mother. "Both my children were brought together. It must have been destiny. Do you believe in fate?"  
_

 _Adrian decided to roll with the conversation changes. He enjoyed just talking with the women. "Shakespeare once said, 'it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves'. I believe that."  
_

 _"A great answer, love. But I believe that everything was meant to happen for a purpose. Two people meeting each other, finding your love, even death, it's all written in the stars, decided from birth. However, we follow a path we can change and shape. We aren't trapped, we are makers of our destiny. Shaping it with every decision we make. We decide what happens, destiny finds a way to bring people into our lives based on our decisions. Does that make sense, love?"  
_

 _Emma stopped walking. "You're trying to say that you died. And you died for a reason. And that reason affects us. Me and Adrian."  
_

 _"Wonderful Emma. I couldn't have said it better myself." she smiled fondly down at the teen. Adrian hadn't the faintest idea how Emma had come to that conclusion but rolled with it.  
_

 _"I and Emma are affected by your… death? How? Are you even real?" Adrian's mind was reeling. It was like a giant puzzle, looking through the pieces given to him and deciding how they fit together. He needed to solve the puzzle.  
_

 _And suddenly the puzzle was being put together. Right before his eyes, things were adding up! She told him long ago, she was his mother, she loved him. She loved him more than his 'other mother'. His own father had said that Adrian wasn't their child. The woman here said she had died, her death affects Adrian and Emma. Emma confided to Adrian that she must have been dumped on her parent's doorstep long ago. His 'mom' was in heaven- or_ peace _as she called it. His life was suddenly a story. A play, being played out through scenes. A mystery to be solved. And he and Emma were the main stars of the show.  
_

 _"You really are our mom…" Adrian whispered. He was shocked. His whole life was one big lie. He had been lied to since before he could remember. How was this even possible? How was he too thick to see the signs before? "You died. Me and Emma… are siblings? And we were dumped on others doorsteps instead of being raised to know our powers and where they came from. To know our lives." but no- this was ludicrous! This was a massive accusation to come to!  
_

 _His mother looked around and sighed. "My time is almost up, love. I need you to listen to me carefully."_

 _Adrian and Emma looked at each other briefly, then back at their 'mother' curiously._

 _"You won't be alone anymore. You have each other. You'll have even more than that soon enough. Promise me something-" she sounded urgent now, looking around the empty space frantically. At the teen's nods, she said carefully, "find the name: Katarina Wright."  
_

" _How? Who is that?" Emma asked, her voice sounding frantic and scared. "Are you leaving? Don't go, please!"_

 _The mother in between them started fading away into mist. But her voice echoed throughout their heads as if she was still talking. "I love you. Don't forget."  
_

 _And then, Black._

Adrian woke up with a start. Where was he? This wasn't his bedroom… or his blanket! What was this! The teenager stood up abruptly. His head was pounding like a drum in a marching band. He felt his insides churning agitatedly. The memory of last night and the dream came flooding back to him.

What a weird dream! It had felt so real, so lifelike, it was hard to believe it hadn't really happened! And why was Emma in his dreams all the time? Perfectly timed, the very girl his thoughts had turned to began to wake. She shook her head and her eyebrows knitted together. The confused look of her features was something Adrian could agree with.

"Adrian?" the girl looked up at him. The boy supposed it was a bit weird he was hovering above her bed. He self consciously took a few steps back. "You were in my dream." she shrugged it off, pulling her bed covers back.

"You were in mine," Adrian said quietly. "We were in a weird heaven place."

Emma's actions halted immediately. Her eyes grew in size within mere seconds. "Were we talking with a woman who looked just like us?"

Normally Adrian would think over a weird question like that, but this matter seemed more serious. He wanted to ask and compare dreams to see if it was real or not, but somehow he already knew the answer. "Yes."

Emma's eyes shifted from shocked to saddened. "She's real. It's all real. Isn't it?"

The urge to hug his 'sister' was overwhelming. The boy settled for accompanying her on the bed. He couldn't believe this. The world was spinning around him so fast he felt dizzy.

"We need to find her Adrian." the teen girl said sadly. "How do we find her name?"

"The graveyard," he said sullenly.

 **By now you're probably wondering when the characters we all know and love shall play a part. To you I say… be patient, please. It will all come soon enough. Maybe even next chapter! So stick around. And don't forget to leave a review or favorite or ANYTHING because I would appreciate it a whole heck of a lot!  
**


	6. Chapter 6: Leaving

Emma slung her school backpack over her shoulder and nodded to Adrian. Adrian grabbed Emma's old white backpack that was covered in black sharpie pictures. Emma's black hoodie, ripped up skinny jeans, sports team backpack, and old black converse made her fit the part of a runaway. Adrian shared the look: black jeans, red and black hoodie, red sneakers, and sharpie backpack.

"Emma? Can we switch backpacks? This one… not my style." he looked a bit sheepish as he spoke.

Emma rolled her eyes. "I know, my old backpack is uncool. Fine." they switched backpacks and continued on their search for objects. Adrian emptied the contents of his duffle bag into his backpack, and Emma threw in two of her concert t's, an extra pair of pants, and some others clothing essentials. After the cloth packing was done the teenagers quietly crept out of Emma's room.

It was four in the morning, early enough that the sun hadn't come up. Cash wasn't in sight and Emma hadn't the faintest idea where her mother went. As Emma and Adrian walked through the living room (a place Emma rarely went) they were greeted by a rather disgusting sight. A plate of half-eaten nachos had fallen onto the hardwood floor, the old couch was signed from previous fires and it had jackets piled onto it as if her family had forgotten that they had a coat closet. Beer cans and junk food wrappers littered the floor, crumbs and stale chips coated the coffee table, the tv had a large crack in it, the remote was pushed between couch cushions, and an empty pack of cigarettes sat atop the tv stand. The room was an utter mess! What had Cash done to the place? Adrian looked on with wide eyes. Emma motioned for them to keep going into the kitchen.

Emma opened the cheap white fridge. A few sticky notes of her mom's appointments and work hours, a second-grade drawing of a rainbow from Emma, and cheap football magnets covered the front of the refrigerator. The inside of the food holding device was packed with takeout foods, leftover pizza, string cheeses, beer and soda cans, and some weird mystery meat that was beginning to smell bad. Trying not to touch the mystery meat container, Emma grabbed a handful of cheeses, two bottled glasses of water, the container of leftover fried rice, and four apples from the counter. Emma grabbed two pieces of white bread and tosses one to Adrian. "For breakfast" she whispered.

Walking over to the far corner of the kitchen where the phone was, she opened a drawer and pulled out a glass container filled with spare change and spare dollar bills. The teenager dumped the contents into her backpack's front pockets., next to her green notebook and pack of pencils.

After double-checking their supplies, the two teens exchanged nervous glances and headed for the front door.

"Where are you two going?" Cash's gruff voice rang out in the dark hallway. The lights flicked on and Emilia saw her father, standing in the doorway, with the front door wide open. Emma's eyes widened and she saw Adrian jump. "It's not even five in the morning!" he rolled his eyes and shut the door.

"Why were you outside?" Emma asked accusingly. "Reevaluating your life choices, I hope."

"I went away for a while. Didn't think anyone would care or notice, seeing as none of you want me here." cash's usually harsh and accusing tone was lower pitched and slow, lacking it's usually hurtful blows to one's ego. His whole body was swaying slightly and, Emma noticed with a hint of disgust, He reeked of alcohol.

"You went to that bar again, didn't you?" Emma glared at him for a bit, then turned to Adrian. Common, let's go.

"I asked you a question, Girly. Where do ya think yer going?" Cash grunted and folded his arms, his tall form stood menacingly in front of their exit.

"None of your business, you miserable thug!" she raised her voice just below a shouting level and glared daggers at the man ahead of her.

"You're not trying to leave are ya?" Cash's arms unfolded and he dropped his keys. His once piercing eyes were glazed over and looking wide-eyed at the two teens.

"We are. Hopefully for good, but I'm not usually that lucky." Emma lost her anger as well. Her threatening stance was given up on. "We're running away, Cash."

The man looked stunned. "After all, I've done for you… you're leaving?" his voice suddenly got harder, his accusing tone riled up Emma. "you've messed up my life, Girly! I'm not letting you run off and act like nothing ever happened!"

"Ruined YOUR life!?" Emma gasped in disbelief. The nerve of this guy! "Lemme get this straight… I messed up YOUR life?! I didn't ask for you to run away, or fight with mom, or hate me! That was YOUR choice!" Emma yelled the last sentence.

"And I didn't ask for you to show up on my doorstep! But there you were! And that's the reason yer mother and I started fightin'" Cash swayed a bit and rose a fist up. "I-'ll fight you *hiccup*, Girly! I'll-fight!" the older man started teetering on the balls of his feet, swaying so much Emma was worried he might fall on them.

Adrian's timid voice came softly from behind Emma, "Mr. Waylon? Are you… doing alright?"

"IM FINE!" Cash bellowed. Emma and Adrian jumped and they heard a 'THUMP' from upstairs, followed by hurried footsteps.

Emma growled agitatedly. "I think he woke mom up." she ground out to Adrian.

The hurried footsteps grew louder and louder while the father and daughter glared at each other. "Emma?" the tired voice of Skylar Waylon whispered from behind the teens. When Emma turned around to face her she winced inside. Skylar looked distraught and sluggish. Her dark and sunken features were enhanced with fatigue, and no makeup to hide behind she looked like a zombie. Her eyes were red and puffy and it was easy to tell she'd been crying. Her faded purple bathrobe clung loosely onto her shoulders and she only had one sock on. Her usually groomed hair was a tangled mess.

"Emma, what's happening?" Skylar's gaze shifted from her daughter to Adrian, and finally to cash's wobbling form. "Are you Drunk?" her tone cut through the air, it's accusing tone making the older man wince.

"C- Course not-Sky…" he belched at the end and had to put a hand on the wall beside him to steady himself.

"Can you two have this upcoming argument later? When Adrian and I are out of the house?" Emma said impatiently.

Skylar turned to Emma. "Are you going somewhere? It's not even light outside!"

"We're getting out of here! Away to find out the truth about where we came from!" Emma nearly shouted, her patience wearing very thin now.

"Emma Waylon, Don't say such ridiculous things!" Emma rolled her eyes at the motherly tone. "I gave birth to you, you didn't _come from anywhere_. And you're NOT running away!"

"LIES!" Cash shouted. Skylar gasped and gave her husband a half warning half pleading look. "We didn't have you!" cash's voice still bellowing throughout the house. "I DIDN'T WANT YOU!"

Skylar's look at Cash turned murderous. "CASH WAYLON YOU **HAVE** BEEN DRINKING!" the blond stomped towards her husband. "I WANT YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE! OUT!" Skylar opened the front door and started forcefully pushing Cash outside. "YOU'VE has NEVER BEEN THERE FOR ME AND EMMA! ALWAYS RUNNING OFF AND GETTING DRUNK! I WON'T HAVE IT ANYMORE! GET OUT!"

Cash-backed out of the house with his hands up in a placating gesture, tripping over his own feet and falling back down the remaining steps.

Emma and Adrian covered their ears to try and block the screeching. With an almighty 'SLAM', Skylar blasted the door shut and spun around to face the teens. At the sight of them, with their hands over their ears, her gaze softened. "Emma dear," Skylar whispered. Slowly the teens put their hands down.

"How did you find out?" the tone of her mother made Emma almost feel guilty for knowing the truth. Miss Waylon looked heartbroken and fragile, eyes downcast and a pale complexion. "I've tried so hard to hide this from you."

"Dreams." Emma blurted. "Well, visions sort of. Same ones Adrian was having. And you guys have been dropping hints recently." Emma kept going to patch her answer up a bit.

"I'm sorry, miss Waylon. We have to find out." Adrian sighed. "You knew Emma had a brother, didn't you?" when Skylar nodded sadly Adrian continued. "I'm Emma's brother. Wow, that's weird to say…" Adrian almost laughed. Almost.

"I don't know how you plan on getting this information…" Skylar said sadly. "Are you sure you want to leave?"

Emma and Adrian nodded.

"Alright," the woman sounded to resigned and sad! "But lemme tell you my side of the story first."

~~~~~~TimeLapse~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I used to be Sierra Jones. I had an older sister named Nancy. We lived in a tiny apartment in new york. My father was a worker for a newspaper and my mom worked in a coffee shop. My older sister raised me, as my mother and father were never there." Skylar sighed in remembrance, her eyes glazed over with memories past. "My sister found this guy. He seemed… odd. I was skeptical of him from the beginning. His name was Balen Hanson. A college football fanatic with raven black hair that covered his eyes. He always seemed high whenever I saw him. When my mom refused to let them be married, Nancy and Balen ran off together and I never saw them again."

"Just two months later there was a news story circling the web. A twenty-year-old couple, both killed. Balen came home drunk and killed Nancy, once he woke up the next morning and saw what he'd done he committed suicide. My world had crumbled in front of my very eyes. I didn't know what to do, how to possibly go on. I ran away. I ran off to Brooklyn and legally changed my name to Skylar. Just a month later I met this aspiring football player who was getting his degree in mechanics. We fell in love. Cash Waylon was, believe it or not, quite the catch back then. His tall and handsome stature was a lady magnet and his dreamer attitude made me weak in the knees. We eloped and got married just one month after we meet. We got this very apartment and that night I remember talking about what we wanted in our future."

"Cash said he didn't want kids. It made me a bit sad but I agreed, eventually swaying him on his opinion. He changed his mind to make me happy and said that after a few years we might think of adopting a toddler. He didn't want to deal with a baby. We laughed and talked all night long and slept all day the next afternoon."

"Just a week later, as cash was walking out the front door to get to work, he nearly stepped on something that had been put on our doorstep. A baby, about a year old, slumbering happily on our doorstep. Resting on top was a letter…" after she said this, Skylar got up and went to her room. Emma and Adrian exchanged awkward glances and fidgeted until Skylar came back a few minutes later.

" _Dear Mrs. and Mr. Waylon,_ " a single tear slid down Skylar's cheek. " _I am Katarina Wright, mother of this child and her brother. I have been watching you and your husband over the last week and I would like you to have my little girl. I can no longer take care of her and I hope you can do so for me.  
_

 _Her name is Emma. her twin brother named Adrian resides at another fortunate newlywed home far from here. Please take care of her as if she were your own daughter! Please give her the opportunity for her to experience normalcy and family!  
_

 _Please do not come looking for me, as I will most likely have passed away before you read this. I wish you the best, -Katarina"_

Skylar put the letter down and took a few deep breaths. "Cash was mad. Of course, he would be! But we had had a big fight that had still been going on and we were at each other's throats. Now he had spun out of control. Of course, i wanted to keep the poor abandoned baby, but Cash would have none of it. He stormed off and I didn't see him again for a week. I decided to get my degree in nursing and get a job so that I could have a steady income while cash was gone. We fought every time he came back and that's how this vicious cycle started. Cash and I always were gone, cash hating you, cash running away, him coming back weeks later and fighting with me, on and on and on until we are where we are now. I guess the moral of the story is don't run away and make life even more difficult for yourself. Or don't get married to the first guy you date. Honestly, there are so many mistakes I've made in the past I can't keep count."

"I might have kicked him out of the house, but I know Cash will return. He's a parasite! But If you two are gone I might have a chance to salvage our relationship." Skylar's teary blue eyes looked up at Emma's brown ones. "It may not seem like it Emma, but I've grown to have a fondness for you. I can't say I love you, I'm sure you can say the same…. Are you sure you want to leave? Because if you do, you can't come back." more tears slid down.

Emma and Adrian exchanged sad glances and at last Emma spoke, "I need to know who I am." her voice was just a whisper but it was full of emotion. Pain, guilt, sorrow, conviction, curiosity, and determination flashed through her chocolate brown eyes.

With a weary nod, Skylar Waylon directed them to the front door, gifting them extra string cheeses and granola bars. And with that, the teens left.


	7. Chapter 7: Cops

Fog. cloudy white fog so thick you could cut it with a knife. Cloudy grey skies, fog, and damp air that made Emma's clothes stick to her skin uncomfortably. It all set the mood perfectly

Dozens upon dozens of worries raced through Emma's mind at incredible speeds. What if they couldn't find any information on Katarina Wright? Where would they spend the night? What would they eat when their food supply ran out? The teens walked side by side, leaning on each other for support as they passed tall buildings and busy people walking to work. No one seemed to notice them or care what they were doing. Emma thanked her lucky stars no one asked questions. She couldn't explain how she felt now. Dark turmoil, hurt, betrayal, all muddled up into a stormy cloud of horrid emotions. Just lost and confused feelings and thoughts were all she could process, and even then her mind was clear as mud.

If what she learned from her mother is true, and the lady in her dreams is her real mother- then her whole entire life was a giant lie. Nothing she had grown up knowing was true! It did make sense somehow. She looked like neither her father nor mother, she resembled Adrian and that lady in her dreams, she and Adrian acted the same way, her fake father hates her… it felt so weird calling Cash her 'fake' father. After all, cash is the only father figure she'd ever had (though he wasn't a very good one.) 

"Are we close?" Adrian spoke for the first time in a while.

"I don't know, I don't visit the Graveyard often." Emma sighed and looked over at her friend. "You live closer to the cemetery than I do, shouldn't you know where it is?" 

"I've only lived here a few months! You've lived here all your life!"

Emma and Adrian rounded the corner and saw a large green patch of trees, fenced off with a pretty fence and iron gate. A sign in front of the lot read: _'Cemetery of the Evergreens'_

"Emma elbowed Adrian's shoulder and pointed, "I think that's it." 

"That's the cemetery for Brooklyn and Queens?"

"No, there are others, but this one's closest." 

Adrian's eyes widened. "Closest? It took us an hour and a half to walk here!"

"don't be pessimistic." Emma quickly brushed off Adrian's complaints. "Should we ask someone?"

"Ask what? Ask who?"

"About Katarina!" Emma gave Adrian an exasperated sigh. "I don't know who! Ask anyone!" 

"Don't have to yell," Adrian muttered and stopped in front of the front gate. "I think it's closed." 

"How could it be closed! It's a public place!" Emma groaned.

"That means nothing. No one's opened the gate yet. It's early anyway, we should have expected this." Adrian inspected the sign and peered through the iron bars. "It opens at eight." 

"It's five." Emma groaned again. She too inspected the front gate, looking it up and down carefully. "I could scale that." 

"Don't." Adrian rolled his eyes, not taking Emma seriously. "We can sit here until eight."

Adrian turned to look at the gate again, only to see Emma with one foot already over the top of the fence. "Emma what the hell are you doing!?"

Emma didn't answer right away, instead, she took her time jumping down to the other side. "Climbing. I thought that was obvious." 

Adrian sighed in frustration."Come on Adrian before someone sees us." Emma put down her backpack and motioned for him to toss his over. Adrian quickly scurried up and over the fence to the best of his abilities. 

With two teens safely over the front gate and two backpacks safely on their shoulders, the journey could carry on. The friends walked side by side, slowly making their way through rows of gravestones. The white fog settling through the deep green trees, the dark grey storm clouds churning overhead, the dull green grass standing still as spires with no breeze to carry it, the whole world around seems lifeless as if time was standing still for the two teenagers. 

Gravestone after gravestone the two teenagers painstakingly searched for a name. Any name or hint as to where or who Katarina wright was. Emma sighed. There were too many graves. Too many names. They wouldn't find one name out of so many. and what if she wasn't buried here? What if she wasn't even buried in Brooklyn? Or queens? 

"Adrian?" Emma called softly. Adrian was a row ahead, looking intently at a headstone. "You're from San Diego, in California, right?" Adrian nodded. "What if she isn't buried in new york? What if she's in a random graveyard in California?" 

"I doubt that," he said slowly. "Wouldn't she have told us? Oh- uh… did she say she had a brother?" 

"A brother?" Emma walked over to where Adrian was pointing. The name "Katarina Wright" was carved neatly into the gravestone in fancy lettering. But Adrian was pointing to the grave next to it- the one that read "Crow Wright". 

"Crow? Like the bird?" Emma smirked. "Are you sure its a brother? It could be a cousin, or a dad, or a boyfriend. Oh! Or her husband!" Emma brushed a few leaves from the gravestone and looked over at Adrian. He only shrugged.

The loud sound of a car caught their attention. An old white Cadillac stopped on the paved path about 50 yards from the teens. A middle-aged man with a green button up shirt stepped out of the parked car and waved at them. He was a fair skinned, balding guy wearing a neatly pressed green button down shirt, slacks, and polished dress shoes. Emma could also see that his fly was unzipped. 

Emma groaned, "we've been caught." Adrian grabbed Emma's arm protectively. 

"Excuse me!" a deep voice called "you two are trespassing!"

Before Adrian could stop her, Emma responded, "Oh look at that! I hadn't noticed!" she yelled sarcastically. Adrian elbowed her.

The man didn't seem amused. "You two are going to have to leave! I can call the police!"

"Let's go," Adrian pulled Emma's arm gently, motioning for her to start walking. 

"I bet he won't call the police," Emma smirked. "He doesn't look like a kind of guy to do that." 

"I'm not taking any chances."

"Have you ever been arrested before, Adrian?"

The man crossed his arms up ahead. "You two are going to have to vacate the property or I'll call the cops." 

Emma stayed fixed in the same spot. "I kinda wanna see if he does."

" _Emma_ ," Adrian ground out "let's GO." 

Emma crossed her arms and met the man's stare, not letting up in the slightest.

"You two are gonna need to leave" he called out again.

"I heard you the first time!" Emma called back. She smiled. Adrian clapped his palm over his eyes. The man just shook his head and got back in the car.

Adrian started trying to physically drag Emma as the car pulled away. Emma still smiled, only moving once the car was out of sight. "He's not gonna call the cops. He totally just gave up!"

"Or he went back to the main building- we've got to run." Adrian sighed. He took hold of Emma's arm again and pulled her towards the tree line. The two walked amongst the trees, somewhat hidden by the shrubbery. "I can't believe you." Adrian shook his head. 

"What?"

"We could have just left when he told us too. It's not that big a deal."

"It is that big of a deal! It took us an hour to get here!" Emma readjusted her backpack and started walking ahead of Adrian. "He won't call the cops. I know what people who call the cops look like, he's not one of them." 

"You'd better be right." Adrian was getting angry, Emma could tell, but she didn't really know what to do.

The two were finally approaching the front gates. Emma could see the main building, the coffee shop close to the abandoned building, the cars driving by, and a cop car pull up to the front gate.

"Shit!" Emma stopped mid-stride. "Cops," she turned around to face Adrian. 

"I thought you said he wouldn't call!" Adrian's eyes were wide as dinner plates. "You little-" 

"Shut up!" Emma clapped a hand over his mouth. "I wanna see what's going on up there but you have to be quiet.

"No way. The dude will see us and if we get arrested we've got no one to pick us up."

"We won't get arrested." Emma rolled her eyes. "You sound like Hazel right now." the two silently crept forward, hidden by the trees but very close to the gate now.

"There are two teenagers running amongst the graves, officer. I think they might have been vandalizing." the guy had a smug look on his face. Emma growled and Adrian threw her a weird look.

"We weren't vandalizing you, idiot," Emma whispered. 

"There's a boy and a girl. Siblings I think, they looked really similar. Of course, I couldn't see them too well. They were wearing backpacks and just between me and you, I think they had spray paint. I can't be too sure of course, but you know teenagers and their rebellious ways." 

"Nevermind," Emma whispered, "he's the exact type to call the cops."

The cop was writing down what the bald guy said, looking on with an annoyed face. He scanned the entrance and spoke, "do you know if the teens have left the property since then?"

"Oh. well, I was just very, uh, focused with calling that I forgot to keep watch of them." 

Emma motioned for Adrian to follow her towards a high stone wall close to the gate. She started trying to scramble up the wall using vines that were crawling up either side. Emma reached for a vine but with a steady rip, the vine came apart from the wall and she fell flat on her back. 

'WHAM'! The noise caught the attention of the cop on the other side of the gate. The officer's eyes got comically wide while the middle-aged dude started freaking out. "THAT'S THEM! THAT'S THEM! Arrest them, officer!" 

"Oh! Shit shit shit!" Emma readjusted her backpack and tore off towards the opposite side of the graveyard. 

"Where the hell are you going!?" Adrian squeaked. He stood stunned, watching the officer speed walk towards him. "Sorry sir, gotta run-" Adrian snapped to attention and started sprinting after Emma. 

"Uh- come back! Hey!" the cop started waving his hands in a clueless gesture. He jogged back to the car where the middle-aged bald idiot was jumping around. "I'm getting back up. I want this place locked down." 

"Don't worry officer, they shouldn't be able to scale the walls surrounding the yard!" he was practically beside himself with excitement. "You'll arrest them right? Lock up those trespassers?" the officer didn't answer him.

Meanwhile, Adrian and Emma were stuck near the back wall of the cemetery. They had a clear view of the front gate about a hundred and twenty-five yards away. They could only just make out another police car pull up. 

"We could climb up a tree until they go away?" Emma smiled nervously. "Or you could gimme a boost to the top of the wall?"

They nodded to each other and Adrian got onto his knees. With a grunt, Adrian pushed Emma up until she could almost reach the top. "Higher! A little higher!" 

"I'm trying!" he wheezed.

"Alright! Get down! Hands in the air!" a female officer was running towards them with a hand on her gun.

"Uh.. w-we surrender! Look at me raising the white flag!" Adrian raised a hand while supporting Emma with the other. He was grimacing with the effort of holding Emma up and his forehead was speckled with droplets of sweat. 

"HEAVE! HO! UP WE GO!" Emma grunted and finally pulled herself into a sitting position on top of the wall. "Um, no, put that white flag down Adrian! We are not giving up!" 

"How the hell am I supposed to get up there!?" Adrian stood up with a fearful look in his eye. 

"Just… hop on up?"

"You're kidding me?"

"One last warning! Come down from there and put your hands up?" the male officer joined the female one. He stood awkwardly, not knowing where to put his arms. Eventually, he settled for crossing them over his chest. 

"Oh for god's sake- we give up! Emma?"

"Aww!" Emma sighed "but I just got up!" she looked down at the two officers and Adrian with her hands up. "Look at you two coppers, eh? You, sir, look very professional!" 

The male cop, whose badge read 'officer Reed' unfolded his arms. "You really think so?" 

Emma smirked, "oh yes. Definitely better looking than that one," she gestured to the female officer.

"I have a name you know." the female looked slightly miffed. "Look, we don't have time for this! Get down from there!" 

"Suit yourself." Emma shrugged and landed on Adrian's left. "Officer… Kenzie Baker, wasn't it? I remember you." 

"How's that?"

"You arrested my dad when he got into a bar fight. He damaged property and was taken in for the night. I and Skylar picked him up the next morning and talked to you. Sad day." she waved it off, pretending not to care. "Oh! Or that time I fell while running in the library and knocked over a few shelves! You took me home! Those were good times!" he smiled brightly but again brushed it off. "Officer reed on the other hand… I don't remember you at all. Haven't seen you around town either. You must be new?" 

"Started last week!" he puffed out his chest proudly. "See? New badge!"

"Can we catch up another time?" officer baker rolled her eyes and fingered her gun warningly. "Take off the backpacks and put your hands in the air."

Emma and Adrian shrugged off their packs and watched as they were rooted through.

"Where'd you get the cash?"

Emma smirked. "Stole it."

Adrian laughed nervously, "she's kidding. We got it as a parting gift from her mother."

"And the snacks? What are those for?"

Emma kept smirking, "to bribe the police with-"

"-Another parting gift!" Adrian cut off loudly. 

"Parting gift?"

"Dear God! So many questions!" Emma's voice was soaked with exasperation. 

"No spray paint, Baker." Officer reed reported dutifully.

Adrian's opened and closed his mouth, trying to find words and looking like a fish out of water. "SPRAY PAINT! We weren't vandalizing! We were trying to find someone!"

"Find someone? They're all dead!" Officer Reed quirked an eyebrow stupidly.

"Trying to find a grave, you idiot." Emma lowered her hands. "Can we go? I'm getting tired of this." 

"We need your address. We're taking you home." Officer Baker stood up fully and crossed her arms. 

Adrian gulped, "About that-"

"We can't go home," Emma spoke softly but her words carried sorrow. "We've been kicked out." 

"You must have family?" both the teens shook their heads. "Then we take you downtown."

Emma's eyes got huge. "To the station!?" no thanks!" Emma kicked the shins of the male cop and started running away. "I have better things to do than getting arrested!" she stopped around twenty yards away and turned to look at Adrian. Adrian still stood with his hands in the air, looking confused as hell. "Adrian?" 

Both cops turned to look at Adrian. Everyone froze, eyes shifting to one another, sizing each other up. "Run Emma!" and Adrian took off with the officers not far behind. 

Officer reed took something out of his belt while trying to catch his breath. "I've always wanted to use this!" he outstretched his arm, "Taser away!"

"SHIT!" Adrian gasped and fell to the ground, shaking violently.

Emma stopped and spun around immediately. "What the hell!? Screw you guys!" she ran toward Adrian and kneeled beside him. "HOW DARE YOU HURT HIM! HOW DARE YOU!" Emma could feel her hands, eyes, and chest heating up with that familiar deadly warmth. "You'll pay for that!"

"EMMA NO!" Adrian yelled and tried to grab her arm, only to recoil from its heat. Adrian scrambled away from her, trying desperately to get to his feet. He felt strong arms grab him from behind and pin his arms behind his back. 

"You're going to the station, Kid." Officer Reed spoke with triumph. "Um- what's up with her?"

Emma became engulfed in deep orange flames. Both cops screamed like little girls. Reed tightened his grip on Adrian and started pulling him to the front gate.

"What do we do, Baker?"

"Call for backup and take the boy to the car!"

"NO! She's not herself! She's lost control again just let me help her!" Adrian struggled against Reed's hold, trying to get to Emma's side. Emma started screaming and writhing around on the ground as the grass around her caught on fire too. "She can't control herself when things get this bad! Please let me help her!" he continued struggling and kicking. "We'll go with you! We'll do whatever you want! Just let me help her!" The officers were both petrified. Reed's grip lessened and Adrian could pull free. Adrian stood just three feet away from Emma and her circle of flaming craziness. "I'm sorry…" Adrian lifted his hands and began shooting a steady stream of ice at Emma. By the time it reached her it was mostly freezing water thanks to the intense heat.

Emma's screams reached tenfold. Neither Emma nor Adrian could see through the thick cloud of steam. Ever so slowly the screams turned to sobs, which turned to whimpers. The flames became small sparks, and the ice started to stick to her body. 

"Adrian!" Emma gasped. Adrian stopped shooting ice and launched himself at Emma. he engulfed her in a giant bear hug.

"Alright you two," Officer Baker said shakily. He reached out slowly and grabbed Adrian's shoulder as if afraid he too would burst into flames. "Downtown." 

Adrian and Emma were shoved inside the back of a police car. Uncomfortably close and dead tired, they sat quietly and waited while the officers talked outside. 

"What a day." Emma smiled slightly, "Can't wait to tell Hazel."

"Hazel just might have a heart attack." Adrian laughed softly. 

**BANG BANG!** The sound of deafening gunshots rattled the car. The teens jumped a foot into the air and tried to look out the back window. The abandoned factory on the other side of the road was smoking and Emma spotted a small fire in the upstairs windows. But that wasn't all-

"THAT'S THE AVENGERS!" Emma started struggling to get her seatbelt undone with her hands handcuffed. "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! It's the AVENGERS!"

 _ **Hello dear readers! It's taken me so long to write this chapter. It's a bit ridiculous. Thank you so much for sticking around! I've been so busy but I think the next chapter will be out soon. Have a jolly day!  
**_


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